About a week ago, I was offered the opportunity to start doing 1-1 coaching with the head coach at my box. He has a fantastic style that I appreciate — he’s extremely observant, honest but not judgmental, and perceptive to a tee.

In the first few weeks of training with him, he started giving me some extra workouts to prepare for WODSunset. Each time I looked at his prescribed workouts, I just started laughing. It was like staring at a long list of every one of my weaknesses. How did he know? Continue reading How to Prioritize Rest and Recovery

Between working in technology and spending the rest of my time doing Crossfit, I see a lot of mobility issues on a daily basis. Mobility isn’t a one-time thing, but an ongoing practice. Even now, almost twenty years down the line, I still have to remind myself that I can’t do a split like I did when I was taking gymnastics classes. At least, not without a proper warm-up like my little ten-year-old self could do. Continue reading Top 5 Flexibility Wins

After a few long, long months of hard training, work, sweat, and tears, WODSunset came last week. It’s rare for there to be an individual category in which I can compete in most Crossfit competitions, so when this one came up, I jumped on it. In our first competition, Gustavo and I were able to compete as a team, but neither of us had the opportunity to test our skills and rankings as individuals. Until last weekend, that is.

Almost every day, at some point, Gustavo pokes my leg and announces, “There’s a stone in there!” Over the past few years, and months especially, I’ve noticed that my muscles have a tendency towards tightness, even despite all of the stretching and (what I thought was) recovery work. In particular, my arms were in brutal shape just after I learned how to hook grip. Presumably, all of those muscles in my forearms were scrambling to figure out why they were being called upon all of a sudden – and so much, too. Continue reading WTF Happened to Your Legs, a.k.a. Recovery is Important

Planning out my classes was always my favorite part of teaching yoga. Over the weekend, I’d write out what my goals were for the class and how to get them there. The experience was a lot like planning a choreography. Which movements will bring us closer to our goal and how can we get there gracefully? Continue reading How I Plan a Yoga Flow

I am on my final sips of a lukewarm mug of tea that I started almost an hour ago. During an interview once, the woman I was meeting with looked down at her takeaway cup of coffee and announced “Ah, these are just props anyway.” Each time I reach for my mug, I remember I’m just using a stand-in for what I really want: strong, hot, caffeine-laden coffee. Continue reading Morning Tea

I arrived in Panama at seven in the morning, right in the middle of a soccer match. Walking through the terminal, everyone was glued to their cellphones, watching the team’s progress against England – not so different from Brazil, except if you consider the fact that the stores were even open to begin with. Game day is a holiday with which I was completely unfamiliar until this past month. Continue reading PTY

In the mornings, I meditate, usually with an affirmation. For the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling a little bit off, a little bit down. As a result, the following came to mind as I decided what affirmation best suited me in this moment:

In about six weeks, I’ll be competing in WODSunset. This time, I’m going alone.

It’s not super common to see an individual event for scaled athletes, so when I saw the option for WODSunset, I was all over it. While my teammate last time was pretty okay and all (just kidding!), I really prefer sports where the competition is you against yourself. I can never get very motivated to beat someone else, but no one is as hard on me as I am. Continue reading Before WODSunset

Spring is my favorite time of year in New Jersey. The air loses its crispness. The ground defrosts and softens. Flowers blossom. Birds chirp. Everyone is in their t-shirts looking for a reason to be outside, feeling the sun on their arms. Continue reading Comfort vs. Belonging

I signed up for another Crossfit competition. In July, I’ll be competing in the Individual – Scaled category at WODSunset in Niterói. I’m perpetually looking for competitions with either mixed-gender teams or individual events since, if I’m on a team, I have a built-in English speaker to help me translate when my brain is too fried and, alone, I have the capacity to only compete with myself.

For the past three years, I’ve somehow found myself in the Vancouver area. Vancouver was never on my list of places to visit and while I stand by my opinion that these Northwestern cities are just freakily quiet, there is something special about Vancouver. It’s cool (in both senses of the word), relaxing, and scenic. I love the mountains and there’s so many beautiful places to walk around. Not to mention, I have an obsession with the Museum of Anthropology there. Continue reading Re-visiting Vancouver